Introduction
The concept of the common carriage was developed in Europe in the eighteenth century. During the initial applications of the concept, it was considered a natural occurrence in the social system and a fact that could not be easily discredited. The concept was applied to the public services that people ought to access regardless of their social status. Postal and transport services were the most recognized industries that conformed to the law in almost every aspect (Croteau et al., 2012). However, the judicial system recognized the law of common carriage even without its formal registration as a regulation.
In the early twentieth century, the judicial system in the United States of America recognized the validity of the law of common carriage even without its formal establishment by the legislature. It became necessary to recognize the law with the development of telecommunication services that were of critical importance to the wellbeing of the society (Croteau et al., 2012).
In 1934, a law was enacted in the United States of America to regulate all common carriers in the telecommunications industry. The law stipulated that the carrier involved had to be fully engaged in particular telecommunication business and had an obligation to avail services to any member of the public who needed them (Sandvig, 2007).
Policy of Media
In the early 1970s, computer networks existed as independent entities that shared information among the computers that were locally connected. During this time, efforts were made to develop protocols that allowed the connection of different networks to one large and complex network known as the internet (Sandvig, 2007). In this network, computers can communicate freely without the favor of any of the many computers in the network. However, the liability of the internet providers for the information transmitted over the network is limited. These are aspects of the concept of common carriage.
The government did not require internet providers to observe the law of common carriage. However, when the internet service providers decided to let the individual computers in the network determine the type of interface to be used and the contents of the messages being sent, the concept of common carriage became effective. All internet users could transmit information over the network using whatever interface they chose (Sandvig, 2007). Individual computers were liable for the contents and effects of the messages involved.
Recently, there have been propositions that internet providers and cable companies should be obligated to let internet users access any information on the internet at unrestricted speed. This proposed law denies the internet providers the right to determine the type of information that can be accessed and the speed at which connections operate (Sandvig, 2007).
Conclusion
While the law of common carriage requires the provision of services in a non-discriminatory manner, the neutrality legislation seeks to control the type of services provided by internet providers. Internet users will access any information they want on the internet and control the type of services accessible to them. However, the concept of neutrality includes the law of common carriage and the freedom of the internet user to control the type of internet services provided.
I agree with the regulation of the internet through the law of common carriage. The internet is a powerful tool of information. Application of the law of common carriage is important since it makes it difficult to influence the integrity of the information on the internet without being noticed (Sandvig, 2007). Everybody watches each other’s actions on the internet, and this obligates internet users to provide information of high integrity. This unlimited access to the internet by all users conforms to the law of common carriage, making this concept an important aspect of the internet.
References
Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., & Milan, S. (2012). Media/society: industries, images, and audiences (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE.
Sandvig, C. (2007). Network neutrality is the new common carriage. Info – The journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, 9(2-3), 136- 147.